Yakima’s Dove shuts down Frogs
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 20, 2006
EVERETT – The Yakima Bears haven’t had much to smile about this season, one that has seen them lose twice as many games as they have won.
But one bright spot for Yakima has been the pitching of Shane Dove, something the Everett AquaSox learned firsthand Sunday afternoon.
Dove threw six strong innings and combined with two relievers to shut down the AquaSox 8-1 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
The left-hander stymied the AquaSox, giving up just one run on five hits and two walks in his six innings. He struck out five, holding Everett at bay until the Bears piled on late.
“He’s got good numbers,” Everett manager Dave Myers said of Dove. “He mixes his pitches well and we didn’t compete very well with the bats today.”
Relievers Reid Mahon and Ross Stout combined on three scoreless innings to close the game out for the Bears (20-40), and Joseph Batten slugged a grand slam in the ninth to make the lead secure.
Dean Zorn was the only Everett player with more than one hit, going 2-for-3. The AquaSox fell to 28-32.
Dove’s record, even after Sunday’s victory, mirrors Yakima’s at a pedestrian 3-5. However, his peripheral numbers are fantastic. He came into Sunday’s game second in the Northwest League in earned run average at 1.93, and he sported a strong strikeout-to-walk ratio of 56-12. His performance Sunday justified those numbers.
“He hit his spots,” Yakima manager Jay Gainer said. “He’s a steady pitcher. He fields his position well and he has an idea of what to do out there. This is his second year here, so you kind of expect that from a repeater guy. He’s coming off (elbow) surgery, so he’s done well with that.”
Even when Everett looked like it might break through against Dove, things managed to fall apart.
First, in the bottom of the third with the score 3-0, the AquaSox loaded the bases with one out. Leury Bonilla then ripped a liner to right-center. However, Shane Byrne made a running catch for the out, and when Zorn failed to tag up at second, he was thrown out before Carlos Peguero could score from third, leaving the Sox with nothing to show for their efforts.
Then in the fifth, with the score still 3-0, Everett got three hits in the span of five pitches against Dove. Carlos Peguero lined a double off the center-field wall, Zorn singled and Ogui Diaz hit an RBI single to make it 3-1. But Dove bounced back by inducing Joe White into a groundout and striking out Bonilla to end Everett’s last threat of the game.
“That was kind of the situation today, things just didn’t work out,” White said. “That’s baseball, I guess. You’ve got to have timely hitting and we just didn’t have that today.”
Everett didn’t get the same type of effort from its starting pitcher, Tony Butler (0-2). It was a typical start for Butler, with large doses of both walks and strikeouts and few balls put into play. The young left-hander struck out seven, but also walked six. He lasted just 32/3 innings. He gave up three runs despite allowing just two singles.
For the season Butler now has 23 walks and 31 strikeouts in 251/3 innings.
Reliever Steve Richard kept Everett close with 31/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up just two hits and struck out five. But the AquaSox never were able to solve the Yakima pitchers.
Butler’s wildness got him in big trouble in the top of the third. He walked four of the first five batters of the inning. The final walk, to Joey Side, came after he was ahead 0-2 in the count and forced in the game’s first run. Mike DeCarlo then poked a two-out, two-run single to center. Butler eventually struck out the side in the inning, but not before the Bears led 3-0.
Yakima got another run in the eighth, with a little help from Mother Nature, as Everett center-fielder Bryan Sabatella lost Jason Watson’s two-out flyball in the sun, the ball dropping for an RBI double. Then Batten polished off the Sox in the ninth with his bases-loaded drive over the fence in center for his first homer of the season.
